How Should I Know?
by dark mirth
Summary: Everybody's dating SOMEBODY at Tomoeda University, but that's not necessarily who they're shacking up with. Will the normally well-behaved Sakura be charmed by the new transfer student, or are they destined to feud for eternity? AU SS ET YN TM crazy.
1. What an Idiot!

DM: Well, so here I am rewriting another fic. I've upped the rating for a lot of reasons, which you will see later on. I hope you all enjoy it! I know a lot of you liked the original, but it was plotless and it really needed to be first person narrated.

**Special thanks to MoshiMoshiQueen for helping me with this extensive rewrite!**

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize from CCS are either people I know or characters of my own creation.

**How Should I Know?**

**Chapter One**

**What an Idiot!**

I remember the day that my life suddenly became complicated. It was a beautiful spring morning in Tomoeda, Japan. The birds were chirping in the sun as a light breeze swished the skirts of the girls on their way to school. They passed a small, two-story yellow house—my house, to be exact.

Up the wooden stairs and to the right was my room; a pink room that was, at the time, flooded with finished (mostly) vacation homework. Inside, a tall, black-haired young man was standing over my lumpy bed, proceeding to drag me out of my peaceful slumber. Actually, I had been awake and looking out the window for a while, but I like to lazy around in bed in the mornings. It feels so nice.

"Come on Monster, wake up, you're not going to be late on the first day, are you?" he was saying, a rather evil smirk playing about his lips.

I, the "Monster" to which he was referring, groaned aloud and threw a pillow at my brother, Touya, the rather mean black-haired youth, who caught it and then proceeded to smother me with it. We don't get along.

"MPH MMMMPH!" I cried, my mouth tasting a mixture of cotton, my leave-in conditioner, and our fabric softener.

Touya lifted the pink pillow off and asked in a sweet voice, "What was that, dear Monster?"

"I _said_, "I give!" now get off me so I can get dressed, you moron!" I replied, too irritated to come up with anything better.

Touya was already dressed in the light blue blazer, slacks and tie that made the male uniform of Tomoda University (isn't it lame how our college has uniforms?). He's only my elder by a year and a half, but he constantly looks down on me, even now, when I've just been through the most turbulent months of my life.

At the time, he was especially smug that he was going to graduate and move on to the real world at the end of the school year.

_I'll show him one day_, I thought fiercely, getting out of bed at last and imagining smashing him under my foot. Ever since I was little I've always wished that I could grow as tall as a telephone poll just so I could stomp on him. That's why I drink so much milk.

Touya laughed and left the room, throwing my pillow casually to one side. I slammed the door behind him and began pulling off my pajamas, which consisted of a pink pair of shorts and a tank top with a bunny on it. I glanced at myself in the mirror as I put on my deodorant.

_No miracle growth spurt _this_ year. Thanks, God._ I thought to myself sarcastically, shaking my head bitterly.

It wasn't that I was totally _flat_, it's just that I wasn't exactly _busty_ either. Being in-between was so aggravating, especially for me at that time in my life. I pulled on my uniform, a blue blazer with a skirt, and sighed. I was just so average looking. There was nothing that screamed 'gorgeous,' and I always seemed to melt into the crowd, unnoticed. I know it's terribly conceited of me to dwell on this, but back then it was a primary concern of mine.

_Average Sakura. Mediocre Kinomoto _I thought. That's my name, by the way. Sakura_._

But, as I brushed my hair, my natural optimism began seeping back in. I was uplifted at how well my usually crazy auburn locks were behaving that morning, coming down by my ears instead of standing straight up (whoever said that short hair is easier to manage has no clue what they're talking about). My skin was clear (for I was quickly leaving puberty behind me), and I looked, for the first time in my life as I could remember it, as though I'd gotten enough sleep.

_Ok. Slightly Prettier than Average Sakura _I corrected in my mind_._

I didn't realize then how much sleep I'd lose that spring. Of course, _he_ was the cause of it all.

It was just lucky that I could commute to school instead of having to live in the dorms like some of the other students. I liked having these quiet moments to myself in the mornings, even if staying at home was a bit…stifling. The problem lied in Touya, who had caused me to never have a boyfriend in all my 21 years of life. In case you're wondering, yes I'd been on dates, but I'd never made it to date three before Touya had discovered us and scared him off. Sometimes I'd wish I'd been born a lesbian, so that he'd just let me be.

I smelled eggs as I walked down the stairs. My father was cooking, wearing the red apron I had got him for Christmas over his suit for work. His briefcase was by the door.

Our kitchen is small, but comfortable with a breakfast nook and a large refrigerator. The walls are painted a pale rust-color with cabinets made of light-colored wood. From the kitchen you can see the front sitting room, painted white and plastered with all of my and Touya's work from when we were in elementary school. How embarrassing.

"Morning, Dad." I said cheerfully.

"Morning, Sweetheart," he replied, giving me a smile over his shoulder.

I sat down and looked at the picture of my mom on the table. Dad had changed it to the one of her sitting on a swing, one of the few not taken by a professional.

"Good morning, Mom," I whispered to the smiling, pretty lady with green eyes and black hair that sat in the picture. About that, she died a long time ago. Don't worry about it—I don't really remember her and my family gets along fine.

He brought me a plate of scrambled eggs. As I ate, I wondered, like I usually did at the start of the term, if we would get any new students this year. There was always at least one poor soul who didn't know anyone and was tormented for all of first semester trying to make friends.

"C'mon Monster, let's go. Yukito is waiting for us," Touya said, walking into the room suddenly. He had already eaten breakfast and was ready to go, evidently excited to see his best friend.

I immediately stuffed the rest of the eggs in my mouth and choked down my orange juice. I hadn't seen Yukito for two weeks! I couldn't wait to ask him about his trip to China and all the cool things he must have seen… To be honest, since I was young he's been my idol. The one guy I really liked but would never dare pursue.

I pulled on my roller blades (yes, I know I'm dorky) as Touya unlocked his bike. They were my old pink and yellow pair that still fit me. My feet stopped growing in junior high, along with my chest, unfortunately. I had bought a new helmet over break, though, a light pink one specially designed to reduce helmet hair. I was about to see if it would work. When we took off, my heart started racing in anticipation. This was my last chance at telling Yukito how I felt—he would be graduating this year. I, unfortunately, was only a junior. Well, in retrospect I'm kind of happy that it was that way.

What did I like about Yukito? Something about his kind, gray eyes. His gray hair, too, looked so soft…He made me feel on top of the world when he smiled! Especially when he had his glasses off!

"Yuki!" Touya called, snapping me to attention.

"Touya! Sakura! Good morning!" he returned, waving.

Yukito got on his bike and drew abreast of us. I felt my cheeks burn as he acknowledged me with a smile (to be honest, I think he still saw me as a child) and began talking to Touya.

Suddenly, he got off his bike and hugged me. I gasped in delight, staring up at him. Did I mention that he was quite tall? I closed my eyes as he leaned his face down to kiss me and—

WHAM! I saw stars and rubbed my head as it started to throb.

"Nice one, Monster! You really ate it that time!" I heard Touya's voice in the darkness.

"Sakura, are you ok?" Yukito asked. I slowly opened one eye.

As I was daydreaming about Yukito I had skated straight into a goddamn tree. I felt my face go red and got up before Yukito could help me, and then cursed myself for not letting him help, only to lose my balance again and topple over backwards.

"Hey, watch it!"

A male voice rang in my ear as strong hands held my waist and set me on my feet. I turned around to apologize, but then realized that the guy was still really close. Our noses were almost touching, and I could see the gold flecks in his amber eyes as they filled my vision.

"Uh—Sorry! I'm so sorry I just—" I began, backing away and noting his messy brown hair as it framed his serious, tan and handsome face. He was not much taller than me, but I'm pretty tall as far as girls go. Like I said, I drink a lot of milk.

"Don't know how to skate?" he cut me off, finishing my explanation. My eyebrow twitched at that.

He smirked at me. I fumed and backed away, mildly repulsed by his arrogance. However, I only admit now that my heart was still racing from our close encounter. Touya was glaring at the guy, and Yukito was smiling and fidgeting nervously.

"I do _too_ know how to skate!" I retorted immediately, despite the fact that I sounded rather childish, "I just lost my balance! Sorry for falling on you." I added the last bit in an effort to sound mature.

"You didn't, I caught you," he replied, shrugging and continuing to smirk. I noticed now that he was dressed like my brother, carrying an over-the-shoulder bag that looked rather full.

_What nerve!_ I remember thinking as I turned away and skated in what I secretly hoped was a graceful manner back to my brother. I didn't know what it was, but the guy really got under my skin.

"You watch yourself, kid," Touya said, although he looked to be around our age.

He took a menacing step closer to the guy, who only ran a hand through his messy brown hair nonchalantly and shrugged again. Yukito and Touya got back on their bikes and began pedaling, quickly sick of his attitude, as was I. I was about to follow when I felt a hand on my shoulder. My heart jumped again, to my dismay.

"What? Thanks for catching me," I said grudgingly (my last-ditch effort to behave like the adult I was supposed to be), turning to look at the stranger.

_He's not bad looking_ I found myself suddenly admitting_._

"Oh don't mention it. I wanted to ask you—do you know where Tomoeda University is, Darling?"

"Um, duh, I'm wearing the uniform," I replied, annoyed by the dumb question. I pointed to the symbol stitched over my left breast on my blazer. He looked at it a little longer than necessary and then started walking before I could even give him directions, following the direction Touya and Yukito had taken. They had gone on ahead without me, much to my disappointment.

Sighing, I began skating next to my newfound companion in silence. Things to say kept bubbling to my mind, like "What's your name," or "Where're you from," but I was too reluctant to indicate my interest in him to speak. I felt like each time I swallowed it was incredibly loud and I wondered if he could hear it.

"I'm Li—" he said suddenly after about two minutes of this excruciating awkwardness, almost causing me to lose my balance in surprise, "Li Syaoran. What's your name, Darling?"

"Kinomoto," I said flatly, irritated that he was still calling me Darling.

"Kinomoto what?" he continued, actually turning to look at me.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, snapping my head away but watching him out of the corner of my eye, "You'll just be calling me Kinomoto."

I rolled my eyes. It was one thing for a guy to be rude, but to try to pick me up right afterwards? Ridiculous. I would never fall for that kind of playing.

"Actually," he said slowly, his voice laced with mild annoyance, "I'll just be calling you Darling until you get off of that high horse of yours. Or, better yet, Sugar."

Unable to counter that quickly, I resorted to what all people who are bad at math resort to when they're stuck: "It's incorrect grammar to say 'off of'. It's just 'off'," I corrected. Looking back, I'm rather embarrassed about that.

He shrugged yet again. It was quickly becoming his signature move. I turned towards him (since he had stopped looking at me), and got a good look at him for the first time. He had a strong profile. As much as I hated to admit it, he was more than not bad looking—he was pretty good looking.

"It's ok, Darling, I know I'm pretty," he said suddenly. The punk had been watching me out of the corner of his eye, I realized, flushing with embarrassment.

I rolled my eyes again as he turned and smiled at me. "Whatever…" I muttered.

I just have to say that I'm usually much more witty than that, but every time I looked at him, my mind seemed to go blank. I spent the rest of the walk trying to come up with good comebacks, only realizing as we rounded the last corner that they were worthless without the right context.

At last we arrived at school, which was as beautiful as always, with its cherry tree-lined courtyard and the kids smiling and laughing after the long break. Li pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket and scanned it. I peered over his shoulder and read it. It was his schedule—boy did we have a lot of classes in common! Now that I think about it, it must have been fate.

Suddenly Li sniffed the air delicately and then turned to me and sniffed my head, which was close to his as I read his schedule. I was growing more and more mortified by the second.

"What kind of shampoo do you use, Darling?" he asked out of the blue.

I pulled away and almost fell over in surprise, having forgotten that I was still in my skates. What the hell kind of question was _that_? I mean seriously.

"Um…Herbal Essences," I muttered truthfully, too taken aback to be a smartass.

"It smells di_vine_," he continued in a sarcastically flamboyant tone, "I noticed it before when you klutzed out and nearly killed me." He finished the last bit with a couple of dramatic hand gestures.

"What?! I didn't do anything of the sort!" I replied hastily. People were watching us as we walked by, and Li's handsome appearance was drawing attention.

"Whatev you say, Darling," he replied, checking his nails and pursing his lips in an impression of ditzy femininity.

"Ugh, puh-_lease_," I replied, stalking off.

We had made it to the shoe lockers by that point, much to my relief. I put away my skates, grabbed my indoor shoes and started walking to class, leaving Li behind.

"Darling, wait!" he called after me with more dramatic flourish than necessary.

_Why is he so loud?_ I thought, cringing. People were flat-out staring at us, and not just because he was cute.

"What, Li?" I said without turning around, "You know, you can call me Kinomoto."

"But you behave so much like a Darling it's hard for me to believe that you aren't one!" He whined sarcastically at me and grabbed my arm, linking it with his. My heart thumped against my will and I let him walk with me like that a few steps before he suddenly blew my mind by asking:

"Would you like to go out with me this Friday?"

I blinked twice and then burst out laughing. Half was out of nervousness and the other half out of how such a flamboyant person could possibly exist. Yukito's face didn't even come to my mind, which should have told me then that maybe my first love wasn't as deep as I thought it was.

"You're right," he said, laughing lightheartedly with me, "it _is_ funny, because it's the only time you've ever been asked out and I was _joking_," he redoubled his grip on my arm and smirked as I stopped laughing, "I just wanted to know where room 3-2 was. Virgin." That last word was whispered but it irritated me more than all the rest combined.

I felt my left eye twitch. _What a _jerk! I thought angrily as I tried to shake my arm free but he only held on more tightly.

The walk seemed endless. Here was this incredibly gorgeous guy holding onto me tightly. The part of my arm he was touching felt hot through my blazer and I was starting to feel lightheaded from the ridiculously fast beating of my heart. I snuck a glance at him, wondering if he could feel the crazy thumping in my chest. He seemed calm, and even whispered, "You have nice eyes," in a teasing tone. I blushed against my will. My eyes are bright green, by the way.

People were staring rather openly at us as we walked down the hall and my swallows became very loud again. It was a relief when we finally made it to room 3-2.

"Ok, now get off and go chat with the teacher," I said softly, finally managing to shake him off my arm. I sighed (mostly with relief) as he walked away.

"Okey dokey, Darling!" He called in a would-be sweet voice after me as I made my way over to my friend Tomoyo, who was thankfully in the same class as me yet again. He began talking with the teacher, a young man by the name of Terada who was barely out of college himself. I surveyed the classroom, my home for the next nine or so months. It was neatly divided into rows of desks and chairs that all faced a large blackboard. Very old fashioned, but that's how I like it.

"Good morning, Sakura! Oh, who is that hot guy that came in with you?" Tomoyo asked, flipping her long, curly, violet hair over her shoulder. The school forbade us to wear any accessories, but Tomoyo always had lovely painted nails. It was about as rebellious as she ever got, really, being a model student and all. I shoved my plain hands into the pockets of my blazer.

Tomoyo and I had been (well, I should say "have" seeing we're still friends—even after what happened) friends since elementary school. In fact, I'd known most of the people in the class since elementary school. That's the kind of place Tomoeda is—everyone knows everyone. _And who they're screwing_, I thought, eyeing two other childhood friends, Chiharu and Yamazaki, as they giggled together.

"Beats the hell out of me," I replied, shrugging, "Some jerk."

Tomoyo didn't seem to mind my disdain and as I sat down I could see her look Li up and down. I loved my best friend but couldn't help but envy her—Tomoyo was what the me of that spring wanted to be more than anything: mysterious, enigmatic, graceful. She had lots of secret admirers, but was always so modest…I never had any secret admirers… Although, Tomoyo often tells me that I don't notice very much around me. Never mind that, it's not important,

"Hey Darling, what's wrong?" Li's voice suddenly filled my ears.

I jumped, and then realized that I had unconsciously sighed aloud. Li was looking at me curiously, almost with concern.

"Nothing, Li, now go away," I replied coolly, regaining my composure.

"Oh but the teacher said that you should show me around during lunch," he countered, tilting his head matter-of-factly, "since we already _know _each other. Besides, I'm sitting behind you!" he exclaimed.

He sat down and gleefully prodded my back, turning to wink at a group of guys behind him, who were glaring, probably because of all the noise he was making.

Tomoyo watched us, and looked…jealous? Marveling at this, I rushed to introduce them, lest the situation become more awkward.

"Li, this is Daidouji Tomoyo," I said quickly, gesturing between them. Tomoyo sat to my left.

"Li Syaoran," he replied, inclining his head in her direction, "pleased to meet you, my lovely."

He took Tomoyo's hand and winked at her. I was amazed when Tomoyo blushed and giggled. I'd never thought her a sucker for that corny crap. Although I recall wondering why he hadn't been such a Casanova with me.

"I had no idea that beautiful people such as yourself associated with girls like Kinomoto, Daidouji," he continued, causing my eyebrow to twitch and Tomoyo to giggle.

I groaned and threw an eraser at him, not bothering to worry about whether or not that was mature. Something about him brought out the child in me.

"Aha! Finders keepers!" he said triumphantly, nimbly snatching it out of the air and tucking it in his pocket.

I sighed…This was going to be a long year, I predicted.

Even if one ignored the flirtatious atmosphere between Tomoyo and Li, there was still the fact that math class got harder each year, and that I had to re-try for the cheerleading squad since we got a new coach. Back in high school I had thought that things would get easier in college (and that I would be able to drop math) only to be disproven right away.

Now Li had entered my life to make things worse.

Of course, I didn't realize then that he would push all these concerns to the background and force me to face a new side of myself.

Insert line here

Lunchtime should have been my relief from the transfer student, but unfortunately Terada had counted on my seemingly kind and charitable heart to take care of the brat.

Tomoyo and I had been eating our homemade lunches under a large cherry tree in the enormous school quad (where four buildings delineated a weird trapezoid-shaped area of grass) when he strolled up, bread in hand, ready for his tour.

"What the hell did I do to deserve this?" I asked the sky, leaving my yummy lunch behind and beginning to show him around. I decided to take the shortest rout: the science building through to the library and then to the math and humanities buildings.

"Why so mad, Darling? I just like you," he said happily, grinning at me.

Li stuck his tongue out at me and I swear my heart stopped. I couldn't understand it—here was the most immature guy I'd ever met in my life, and he was making my heart skip beats without trying. I looked around and noticed that groups of girls were following them around. I felt myself frown with irritation. Pretty soon he'd have a fanclub or something. Apparently my brother had one.

"Here is the library," I said, having finished giving him a brief tour of the science building, "As you can see we have a silent study center so you can study alone for things—"

"—another place that looks good for making out—" he interrupted, but I didn't care to give him a reply.

"—Oh! Yukito!" I cut him off, seeing my crush coming out of the history section with a teetering stack of books. He smiled at me and hobbled over, looking very cute while doing it, might I add.

"Hey, Sakura, how's your day so far?" he asked, smiling.

"Fine, and yours?" I asked, feeling a blush creep into my cheeks.

"Well I already have so much work!" he replied, the books threatening to topple when I held them up just in time.

We both laughed together as Li watched, silent for once. I resisted the urge to turn and smirk at him as my eyes Yukito's and my heart skipped a beat. Suddenly Yukito blushed as well as he stared back.

_Ohmygodhelikesmeohmygodohmygodohmygod!! _My mind raced, heart thumping like mad.

Suddenly Touya materialized behind him with an equally large stack of books. _Damn him _I thought bitterly. Yukito seemed to snap out of a trance, and with a shy, "Bye, Sakura" he went over to my brother.

Forgetting completely that Li was there, I allowed myself to sigh dreamily at his retreating back. Such a beautiful back…

"I'm cuter than he is," I heard suddenly.

I turned and saw Li pouting. I frowned at him and shook my head, secretly delighting in his annoyance. We left the library and headed towards math, which was next to the gym.

"You _like _him," he continued, changing from pouting to grinning in a second, "You want to _kiss_ him. You want to have his _babies_," he sang out, doing pelvic thrusts in time with the words. Some kids nearby stopped their soccer game (we were now by the athletic fields) and stared as he did this perverted dance in a circle around an extremely angry me.

I smacked him upside the head, but he only laughed, increasing my fury.

"You know, Darling, twenty-five is really too many," he continued, taking on a phony serious attitude.

I stopped frowning, unsure of what he was talking about.

"Too many what?" I asked, narrowing my eyes with suspicion.

"TOO MANY BABIES!" he yelled.

With that, he stuck his tongue out at me again and ran off, and I chased after him and tackled him to the ground, like the immature idiot I was. _What an _idiot_!_ I thought angrily, attempting to strangle him. Li made an ecstatic, sexual face, which only made me livid with embarrassment. We were causing quite a scene.

"Oh how I love Japan!" he cried from underneath me

I punched him in the face and got up, walking away resolutely.

"Nice panties," he called from behind me, "I like bunnies, too!"

This is, of course, exactly how one should go about meeting the love of their life.

DM: Well that's Chapter One rewritten! Please review and tell me how you liked it! Please?


	2. Fountain of Fun

DM: Well now I'm editing chapter two, I hope you like it!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize are either people I know or characters of my own creation.

**How Should I Know?**

**Chapter Two**

**A Fountain of Fun**

"Ok Class, just sit tight while I pass back our first math test of the year!" Mr. Terada exclaimed.

The class groaned collectively, myself included. As usual, it hadn't gone very well, especially for me. Calculus is more difficult than it looks (and it looks pretty difficult).

I lifted my head off my hand with a small sigh and braced myself for another C, which I had gotten all last year. I had been staring down at the quad. The sky was a little gloomier than usual, signaling the coming rain. I cursed myself for forgetting my umbrella at home.

Mr. Terada sounded way too pumped about math tests; I can't understand people like that. I doodled a heart with "YT + SK" in the middle of my notebook as the teacher neared my desk, trying not to betray my fear and anxiety. I'm convinced teachers can smell it.

"Wonderful job, Kinomoto, looks like you've improved!" Terada exclaimed, sounding sincerely happy for me. I forgot to suppress my sigh of relief and he chuckled.

I looked at my test. I got an eighty-eight percent! That was a B plus! I had never scored so well on a math test before. I was so happy and turned to show Tomoyo, who of course got a 91. She's always bested me when it comes to school. I've come to terms with it.

We shared a proud smile, but I felt mine break in half as Mr. Terada said to Li:

"Congratulations! A perfect score!" I cringed a little bit.

"Gee thanks, Professor, I'm so glad!" Li's voice was so sugary I wanted to vomit.

Suddenly, a huge hole opened up under Li's desk, and he and his stupid perfect score plummeted down through the Earth's crust, sizzling as they hit the magma. I smiled at the pleasant fantasy.

"Sakura? Are you ok? That smile looks sort of deranged…" Tomoyo asked, shaking me by the shoulder and eyeing me nervously.

"Yea, what's the matter, Darling? Let me see what you got!" I heard from behind me. The sugar was gone from his voice as Terada moved on to the rows behind us.

Li put his arm around me and leaned forward, so his head was resting on my shoulder with a familiarity I found unnerving. I felt the heat rise in my face at his sudden closeness and tried to keep my head as far away from his as was humanly possible.

I noted that Tomoyo's eyes were narrowing dangerously out of jealousy and tried to make my displeasure with Li's closeness as apparent as possible.

"Hah, a B plus? My mom would _kill_ me if I got _that_. Especially in math, since it's such an easy subject," he said smugly. His chin was digging into my shoulder, as if he wanted to add injury to insult. The contrary punk.

_Remain calm, _I told myself,_ Do not take the bait._

"It may be easy for _you_, Li, but Sakura's had trouble with math since childhood," Tomoyo said, in a tone of voice I rarely heard her use. My eyebrow twitched in irritation.

_Gee thanks, Tomoyo,_ I thought bitterly.

"Oh I see. I guess I'll have to help you then," he said lazily. He was twirling a lock of my hair around one of his fingers and I casually wanted to scream.

"Thanks for the offer, but Yukito already agreed to study with me—in fact, we're studying this afternoon," I said as calmly as she could, shaking my shoulders and brushing him off.

I felt him stare at the back of my head as he sat down again, and for a long time neither of us spoke. Thank God math was the last class of the day. The past two weeks with Li had been almost unbearable. Every time I'd tried to go off and find Yukito, Li was there, messing things up.

He really ran the gamut as far as pranks went. They ranged from ridiculously immature (_a five year old could do better, _I often thought) to outlandish and strange. He stayed in a dorm, so his free time was essentially unlimited to come up with these things.

For example, just the other day I had gone to visit Yukito in his dorm, when a hand reached out of a random door and pulled me in. I tried to scream, fearing for my life, but it turned out to be Li, who placed a hand over my mouth and winked.

I resolutely ignored the cuteness of the gesture.

"Watch this," he whispered, pointing to the door, which he'd left just a little bit open. Yukito was walking down the hallway, completely oblivious to the wire Li had stretched across the hall. He tripped and triggered some kind of complicated mechanism that then caused something reddish-brown and spicy to drop from the ceiling. I gasped as poor Yukito found himself covered in curry. Li began laughing hysterically.

I turned to Li with what I hoped was a very hurt expression and slapped him in the face. It felt quite good.

"You're so immature," I said furiously, rushing outside to help Yukito off the floor, only to slip in the curried carpet and fall backwards into Li's waiting arms.

Much to my dismay, I felt my heart skip a beat as his chest rumbled with a soft laugh. Still holding me at extremely close proximity, he whispered,

"We seem to find ourselves in this situation a lot."

I shook my head as my ears turned red to clear my mind of the memory. There were thirty minutes left in class.

Just thinking about his stupid little jokes made me angry. He was already so popular, and people were wondering why I didn't like him—especially Tomoyo, who seemed absolutely smitten, much to my disgust.

It wasn't that I hated him, per se, but more that he set me ill at ease. I didn't know what he was capable of—or what I was capable of—when he was around me. I don't know. Maybe I was already in love with him at that point. It snuck up on me, as you'll see later.

I turned to look at Tomoyo and saw the girl staring at Li with dreamy eyes. It was evident that she was after him to be her boyfriend, much to the dismay of the rest of the single male population.

_Ugh, gag me,_ I thought, _the last thing Li needs is more of an ego-boost._

I turned my eyes back out the window and I remembered yet another Li-incident. The day before, I had gone to see Yukito only to find a random guy duct-taped to a chair sitting in the elevator. Attributing it to Li (only _he_ would think that was funny) I stomped over to his room to give him a stern talking to.

However, when I pushed open the door, I found him kneeling in front of a photograph, an incense stick burning in a small but ornate holder. Taking a soft step inside, I saw a man who looked remarkably like him: the same messy brown hair, but with black eyes. Li clapped his hands twice and was about to get up when I dashed out of the room, my heart beating fast for no reason.

I could remember thinking: _Was that the same guy who put salt in my pudding today?_

Li suddenly poked me in the back of the head and the memory vanished.

_Yes, it definitely was,_ I assured myself.

"Hey Hot Stuff,what time are you meeting Tsukishiro?" he asked, lengthening the "Darling" into a drawl.

I took a deep breath and turned around slowly.

"Why?" I asked, suspicious. My hands had taken their customary place on my hips, though I longed to remove my uniform's blazer. It was suddenly awfully hot in the room and I had no idea why.

"Because I want to go with you," he replied. I was shocked at how straightforward he was.

"Why?" I blurted out again, confused by his attitude.

"Because I want to help you study," he persisted. His left cheek had a little dimple, I noticed suddenly. My heart was beating very fast and inside I was panicking.

"Why?" I asked again, almost scared of the next answer.

"Because it pains me to see someone so stupid," he said, his intense expression never leaving his face.

SMACK. The sound of a hand slapping cheek. I was hearing it a lot lately.

Li held his cheek but smirked at me, the dimple deepening. I couldn't believe he'd got me so worked up over nothing.

Anger boiled up from my stomach as my hands involuntarily formed fists. It wasn't _my _fault I wasn't good at math! I tried my best to make an angry expression, but a little of my hurt must have seeped out as my lips formed a plump pout.

Glancing down at my lips briefly, Li looked back into my eyes, seeming almost to find me cute, which confused me all the more. I could never tell what he was thinking.

"I was just kidding, but if I told you the real reason you'd blow me off," he said, shrugging.

_Don't rise._ I told myself. _Don't take his bait, he wants you to ask so he can say something mean…_

"You're right. I probably would," I replied, and I was pleased to see a disappointed look on his face. And with that, I turned in my seat and didn't look at him again for the rest of the period.

When the bell finally rang, I packed up my stuff quickly and left without even saying goodbye to Tomoyo. I looked back into the classroom from the hall and saw Li chatting her up.

_I'll get him good one of these days,_ I resolved.

I set off at a brisk pace for the library, where I would work with Yukito. I felt myself smile dreamily as I thought of him (Tomoyo always called it "going hanyan") and sighed.

Unfortunately, my pace wasn't brisk enough, because Li caught up to me just as I was rounding the fountain in the courtyard.

"What do you want, Li?" I asked, sighing exasperatedly.

"To tell you that Tomoyo agreed to go out with me this weekend," he replied happily. His smile was too smug for my liking.

I turned on my heels and stuck a finger in his face, my other hand taking a place on my hip in a threatening gesture.

"Listen _pal_," I began, "She's my friend, and if you do anything to hurt her—"

"—Like kiss her best friend?" he asked, cutting me off.

Suddenly his mouth covered mine in a wet, nonsensical tangle of heat. I was startled at how soft his lips were despite the forcefulness of the kiss and didn't react for a few moments. His hands had found their way into my short hair, holding my face to his.

_What is happening?_ I thought, forgetting myself and letting him kiss me.

Inexplicably, I hesitated a few more seconds before placing both hands on his chest and pushing him away, my mouth feeling cold once we'd broken apart.

I glared at him, trying desperately to hide the weakness in my knees. My heart was beating so fast I felt lightheaded, but I couldn't—wouldn't—let him know he affected me like that.

"How dare you?" I asked, my voice shaking. I was out of breath and it was humiliating.

"You're just so cute when you're getting all self-righteous—" he began.

WHAM. The sound of fist on nose.

CRUNCH. The sound of '_Oh my god did I just break his nose?'_

I stood, staring at my fist, shaking. Oh God, his nose! He grabbed it and moaned. It was bleeding freely.

"Li...I'm sorry I didn't mean to break your nose, I—" I tried to explain myself, suddenly looking around for a sign that someone had seen what had happened. There were a couple underclassmen, but that was it, thankfully. I had forgotten about the kiss entirely.

"It's not broken, you twit, it's just bleeding, relax," he said, scoffing at my concern.

"Right, it's just a fountain of fun, isn't it?" I asked, smirking at him for behaving like such a tough-guy. This was the first time he'd been this flustered around me.

"Damn straight it is," he replied, regaining his composure, "Speaking of fountains and fun…"

He grinned evilly at me from behind the blood and swooped down on my knees, knocking me backwards into the rather dirty fountain. I screamed as the cold water seeped up her clothes and damned him under my breath.

"I hate you, Li," I said, yet at the same time I didn't mean it at all. He looked like he didn't believe me.

I glowered at him, so angry I was shaking. I would have hit him again but suddenly three people were running towards us.

"Xiao Lang!" rang out a girl with black pigtails as she ran to him, glaring at me.

"Sakura!" My brother and Yukito were coming too. I love being humiliated on a daily basis, you know, so this was just great for me.

"What did you do to my sister?" Touya growled angrily at Li. He shook a fist at the younger (and much shorter) guy.

"What did _your _sister do to _my _cousin?" The girl screamed in return, shielding Li from Touya, her hands on her hips. Touya's eyes latched on to hers and the two radiated auras of pure anger at the other's completely unjust accusation.

I had begun giggling at their glaring match when Yukito came and helped me out of the fountain. He smiled at me and whispered, "I have something very important to ask you Sakura, once this is all over." The hushed tone of his voice gave me shivers.

I looked at him questioningly, cheeks burning, but he only winked at me and turned to watch Touya and the girl argue over whose fault it was. I didn't dare breath. Did he mean what I thought he did? I pondered the question as I wringed the water out of my skirt. I watched as Li scrubbed a little at the front of his blazer, where the fountain water was quickly washing out the blood from his nose.

He looked up and met my gaze for a second, two streaks of blood trailing from his nostrils over his lips. He made a face, rolling his eyes back and licking his lips, holding his arms out like a zombie. In spite of myself, I laughed. He was immature, but pretty funny nonetheless.

"Look, just keep her away from him!" The girl shook a fist at Touya. Li sighed and stepped around her.

"Chill out, Meiling, it's okay!" he exclaimed, holding both his hands up in an attempt to calm her down.

"No it isn't!" Touya yelled at him, "Keep_ him_ away from _her_," he snapped at the girl, pointing at a confused and sighing Li.

"Fine!" she replied.

"Fine!" he shot back.

With that, Touya and Meiling stormed off in opposite directions, which I found mildly amusing. Li shook his head and turned to me and Yukito.

"My cousin, Li Meiling," he said thickly through the blood on his face, "She is very protective of me. She's in class 2-1."

Yukito only smiled at him, as I stuck her tongue out. Li shrugged, stuffed his hands into his pockets and walked off in the same direction as his cousin, looking strangely disappointed.

Maybe he _did_ believe me when I told him I hated him.

I looked up at my brother's friend, unsure of what to expect yet utterly excited. He had never looked so cute to me before and I felt myself blush realizing that this could be the day I'd been waiting for. The day my love was finally answered!

Yukito took my arm and said, "Hey maybe we shouldn't study today. Let me get you a towel."

We went to the sports locker and got a nice warm towel from the equipment manager, and walked off. I didn't dare say anything the entire time, not wanting to jinx the happy atmosphere. I knew that if I opened my mouth I'd talk about Li. How? Don't ask me. I just did.

"D'you wanna get some ice cream?" he asked, "Let's go to Penguin Park." Without waiting for my reply, he took my hand and led me out of the school.

Thoughts of homework and revenge on Li for humiliating me took a back seat as I enjoyed the feeling of his hand around mine.

"So what did you want to ask me that was so important?" I said, breathless as I attempted to keep up with him. He's quite tall.

"Well, I've been trying to convince your brother to let me do this for months, and finally I got him to agree, so…" he trailed off.

He stopped walking and turned to me. I could see he was nervous and felt my heart rate double. We hadn't even made it to Penguin Park yet.

"Would you like to be my girlfriend?" he asked, all in one exhale.

_Ohmygodohmygodohmygod _I thought, my mind lacking all coherency.

"YES! YES I WOULD LOVE TO!" I replied excitedly. I jumped up into his arms. I was ecstatic! After twenty-one years of life, my first boyfriend!

Insert Line here

Of course I should have known that Li would react to my new relationship with Yukito by going steady with my best friend.

Li arrived in class on Monday wearing a triumphant smirk. He came by and tickled Tomoyo under the chin, winking at me to demonstrate the success of his counter attack. The happiness I had felt before vanished almost immediately as my competitive side rose to his challenge. Fire crackled between us as he took his seat behind me. Tomoyo turned to me, whispering.

"He's so wonderful, Sakura! Can't you at least make an effort to get along with him? For my sake?" she begged.

Tomoyo looked so pathetic, pleading with me, that I sighed and nodded.

"Only if he isn't an obnoxious pig to me," I retorted, my voice laced with resignation. I'd do anything for Tomoyo.

"Thanks so much Sakura, you're the best!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around me. She hugged me tightly, oblivious to the negative attention our newly-formed trio was receiving from the other members of the class, both male and female. A buzz of whispering followed every move we made.

The attention, of course, was mostly focused on Tomoyo. People don't really worry about me all that much.

"Now we both have the boyfriends we've always dreamed of!" she said, sighing happily.

"Yea…" I replied, looking away.

Tomoyo got up to go to the washroom. I looked down at my notebook and saw the little heart I'd doodled on it the week before. Was it really only Friday morning that I hadn't known how he felt about me? I was still getting over the shock and didn't feel quite like myself.

As soon as Tomoyo left, Li got up to follow her. I cringed.

However, he came right back inside, covering his eyes with a hand,

Why did he seem so angry? I wondered. However, I stopped thinking about it quickly as Tomoyo came back and immediately ran up to him and started jabbering away. She backed off when he suddenly slammed his fist down.

I got up and stared at him, hands on my hips.

"Bipolar much?" I asked sarcastically, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Disgusting," was all he said. Now that I looked, he seemed more mortified than angry.

"What's the matter?" I asked, trying to hide my concern and failing. Dimly I noticed that his nose appeared fine. The weekend had healed it.

"I just saw my cousin and your brother sucking face," he replied, looking faintly sick.

I stared. I wasn't really expecting that. But it wasn't _that_ gross.

"Look, I have no control over _what_ my brother does, and for your information, your cousin can snog whomever she wishes," I said simply, taking my seat.

Li still looked really angry as he sat down, and lapsed into a silence uncharacteristic of him throughout the rest of the period. By second period; however, he was back to his usual joking self, but ignored me completely.

_Bipolar freak_, I thought to myself.

I, free of his presence, happily spent the school day dreaming of her first date with Yukito, that coming Saturday.

DM: Well that's it for now, guys! Now no flames please! It's essential to the plot that Sakura and Yukito go out, and I couldn't just leave Touya hanging, could I? Ordinarily I'm a total Touya x Yukito fan, but this fic is a little different. I mean, who has ever heard of a Touya x Meiling pairing? WTF? Review please, and the more I get, the faster I will update! Thanks so much!


	3. Ultimate

DM: Thanks so much for you reviews, guys! This chapter is where things really get interesting. I'm hoping that this fic won't be too long so I'm going to get the ball rolling ASAP! Sorry for the lateness!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize are either people I know or characters of my own creation. This chapter is unbeta'd. Sorry.

**How Should I Know?**

**Chapter Three**

**Ultimate**

The Monday after Yukito and my first date, I woke up to the sound of rain and looked outside to see the street already flooded. I shifted under the covers, lying down to rub my eyes again.

_Looks like I'll have to walk, _I thought, not entirely saddened by the idea,_ Good thing I woke up so early._

Now that I was thinking about it, I wondered, why _did _I wake up so early? You see, I usually need help to wake up, and when I do, I'm barely on time. It's a problem I have. I frowned as I tried to remember my dream—it had involved Li kissing me. A hot, wet replay of our last one, though I tend to exaggerate.

"No wonder I woke up…"I grumbled, "Stupid nightmare."

I shrugged it off and began getting ready for school. My bunny shirt was in the wash, so I was forced to wear a plain white shirt to sleep. As I buttoned up my shirt I caught a glance of myself in the mirror. I was looking extremely flushed after such a… oh, I don't know, _intense _dream. I quickly grew embarrassed (though no one was around) and rushed to go downstairs.

Touya was waiting for me at the door, looking much more subdued than usual. He heaved a sigh as I grabbed an umbrella for each of us.

"Whoa, who died, Touya?" I asked, half smirking. He only ever got like this when he was having girl trouble, which happens more than you might think. I swear, his life would be so much easier if he was gay.

Oh, I'm sorry; I guess I shouldn't say that in a place like this, huh? My bad.

Anyway, back to my story. Thank you for listening so far.

"Shut up monster," he muttered half-heartedly under his breath. The sight of his dejected face kept me from my usual foot-stomping reply. Without saying anything else to me, he walked out the door, talking to himself about girls, pigtails and accidents.

We walked in a silence I was desperate to break. I asked him several questions about his classes and his teachers, but he gave me "yes or no" replies, even though none of them were "yes or no" questions. I sighed and resigned myself to the situation. This had to be the female Li's doing, I decided.

_Finally_ Yukito came into view, holding his blue umbrella. I silently regretted bringing my own pink one (it's really cute—Tomoyo designed it with a pattern of cherry blossoms!)—sharing umbrellas was so romantic. Oh well, I figured, we'd have plenty of time for romantic stuff.

Of course, I was utterly wrong.

"I'm happy to see you too, Sakura," Yukito was saying to me. I gave him a puzzled look: I hadn't said anything.

He winked at me, and I realized that I must have had a really dreamy look on my face. I reached up to touch my face and realized it had smiled of its own accord. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as we walked to school, talking idly about nothing. I was mildly relieved to note that Touya treated Yukito much in the same way he had treated me, though Yukito did not seem very put off by it.

Touya looked more sullen than ever when Li and his cousin came into view, each holding yin-yang patterned umbrellas. My suspicions were confirmed.

"Sweetheart!" Li called to me, stepping ahead of his cousin. We were on campus now, and the two of them were walking to the main building from the dorms. Unfortunately, their road and ours merged to one, a painful daily occurrence for all those involved. Except maybe Li, that is.

I groaned at the thought of walking next to him. He fell in step with me anyway, whistling a happy tune. One glance at his pursed lips and the memory of my dream came flooding back. My face grew flushed and I looked away.

Touya and the Meiling girl were refusing to look at each other, walking on opposite sides of our little trio. Yukito, on my left, leaned forward and asked Li in a low voice, "What happened with them?"

Li raised an eyebrow, and whispered back, "Well apparently she and Kinomoto got into a fight, and she tried to punch him and missed…" he trailed off.

I watched his smile turn evil, and, strangely enough, it brought a smile to my face, too. He was kind of cute like that—he looked like a mischievous little boy. Then I remembered who this was standing in front of me and shook my head slightly to clear it of that stupid idea.

_Little boy? _I thought, turning away, _Puh-_lease.

"So they ended up snogging, right, Li?" Yukito asked, with a little chuckle under his breath.

The three of us continued to walk in an amiable sort of silence, with Touya and Meiling glaring off in opposite directions and stomping their feet much more loudly than was absolutely necessary. I was kind of surprised that Yukito didn't feel more hostility towards Li, and also strangely disappointed. Walking between them, I couldn't help but glance back and forth. They were really quite different. Yukito is tall bordering on gangly, and fair in every sense of the word. Li is a little stockier, yet at the same time a little more graceful…

Once Yukito went with Touya to the senior area, Li grabbed my arm and asked, in his most sugary-sweet voice, "How was your first date with snowy bunny boy?"

_He's teasing me_, I thought, though the intensity of his gaze was indicating otherwise.

"Oh it was so _romantic_. He was such a _gentleman_," I breathed, remembering how we went for a long walk in the park and how, just at the very end, he'd planted a quick peck on my cheek. I put a hand up and tried to touch where he'd kissed me, but then I realized I'd forgotten the exact location. All I could remember was Li's kiss, and my fingers instead landed on my lips.

Syaoran mimed vomiting. My eyes narrowed.

"And how was your date with Tomoyo?" I countered, _"_Does she see through you yet?"

I had actually heard all about their date right after it happened, and to my dismay, Tomoyo had had a great time.

"See through me?" Li pretended to look hurt. I smirked.

"Doesn't she see that you're just messing around?" We had made it to the shoe lockers, and I bent down to remove my outdoor shoes, glad for the excuse to break eye contact.

"Look Kinomoto, we're dating casually—it's not like she expects something from me," he replied, shrugging. He walked off to join his friends, who were gathered around some kind of magazine (the contents of which would make everyone in this building blush).

I stood, watching him. The offhand way he said that made me very angry, mostly because Tomoyo had spent all of Sunday gushing to me about how much she liked the little punk. He didn't deserve someone as great as Tomoyo!

I realized then and there that I had to make Tomoyo dump him.

But how?

I walked over to Tomoyo, who was opening her shoe locker, blissfully unaware of Li's evil nature.

"Morning, Sakura—oh, what's this?" she had begun to call to me, but then looked down in surprise.

A letter tied to a rose fell out of her locker. _Great, now she has another secret admirer, _I remember thinking, but I bit back the twinge of envy. We're friends, and that's that.

"_Oh amethyst-eyed beauty, you are the love of my life. My only wish is that you acknowledge my existence,_" she read aloud to me from the letter.

I couldn't help it—I laughed. The letters were getting more and more ridiculous as time went on, it seemed. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw light flash off someone's glasses. I turned to look at the interloper as Tomoyo got out her books, but all I saw was the back of his blue-haired head. _Hmm…_ I puzzled to myself.

All throughout class I kept looking over my shoulder at the blue-haired guy, who sat two rows behind us. I had a feeling it was he who left the rose and letter in Tomoyo's locker, but I couldn't be sure. He didn't notice my looking, but stared straight ahead, occasionally glancing at Tomoyo. His eyes were a bright blue and he was almost as pale as Tomoyo, and I knew him by sight, but couldn't recall his name.

"Hey Babe, it's rude to stare," a sly voice whispered in my ear.

"Oh you're a really expert on etiquette, Li," I whispered back without turning to him.

"For your information, O Wise One, I—" he began in reply, but the teacher cut him off:

"—Li, is there something you'd like to share with the class?"

"I—er—no, sir!" Li feigned an apologetic expression. He was in college and he still had problems with disrupting classes. I decided that he was definitely not right for Tomoyo.

"This is the last time you will interrupt my class, Li. You will do detention with me during lunch," the teacher announced, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

Li groaned. I turned and gave him a triumphant grin. However, I quickly regretted it as he began pulling my hair in reply. Brat.

* * *

At lunchtime I approached Mr. Blue, Tomoyo's secret admirer. He was sitting by himself in a secluded corner of the cafeteria. It was still raining heavily outside, and I was thankful that Li was in detention so I could work undisturbed. I left Tomoyo with our small group of friends, claiming I needed to do my brother a favor.

"Kinomoto Sakura, nice to meet you," I said, extending my hand. No "hello;" I had no time to waste.

"Hiiragizawa Eriol," he replied coolly, unperturbed by my lack of decorum.

"Listen," I said, sitting down across from him on the empty table, "I know you were the one who put the letter in Tomoyo's locker."

Hiiragizawa just shrugged noncommittally and began unwrapping a chocolate egg.

"I know that she's going out with Li," he said when he'd finished, "He's an ok guy and she's happy."

"_No_ he is _not_ an ok guy. Tomoyo is taking their relationship a lot more seriously than he is and I'm afraid she might get hurt." I made sure that my expression was extremely serious as I said all of this. I hoped to instill in him a fighting spirit so that he'd help me with my plan.

Hiiragizawa took a bite of his chocolate egg and chewed thoughtfully. It was hollow and a small plastic egg was inside. His unhurried manner was kind of irritating, but at the same time he reminded me a lot of Tomoyo. I knew she'd like him immediately.

"What is that?" I asked; my curiosity got the better of me as I looked at the candy egg. He didn't look like he'd be answering replying to my first statement soon anyway.

"Kinder surprise. My grandparents send them to me from England," he said shortly, the quickest answer I'd received yet.

He removed and opened the plastic egg and began to assemble an airplane from the pieces inside. I shook my head. He clearly wasn't much of a talker when he was in the zone like that.

"Anyway, I have a proposition for you," I began tentatively.

"Go on, I'm listening," he said, clearly eager to be alone with his airplane.

"Become friends with Tomoyo and be there for her, and maybe when Li drops the bomb on her she won't feel so bad. Give her advice that will sabotage their relationship and help her get over him," I said quickly. Almost all of it was purely nice, except maybe the sabotage part. But desperate times call for desperate measures. I had to make her see the truth.

"As much as I would love a chance to get close to her," he answered, placing stickers on the winds, "Why can't _you_ be there to advise her against Li?"

He was smart.

"Because I hate him and she knows it," I said flatly, "She'll never believe me. And besides, I'm hoping that she will fall in love with someone else and forget about him."

"That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard," he said, setting the toy down on the desk. He hadn't really looked at me since our introduction, but now he finally made eye contact.

"Says the guy playing with a plastic airplane," I snapped.

"Hey, I never said it wouldn't work," he replied. He smiled and his glasses flashed in a way I found dangerous. He stuck out a hand.

"Partners?" he asked. I was a little surprised that he was going along with it, but I took his hand nonetheless.

"Partners. Let the Ultimate Plan begin."

We shook hands, and I left to go join Yukito, who was waving at me from my brother's usual table. Once again, I thanked God that Li had detention that lunch period. I thank him for other stuff, too, just so you know.

"What were you talking to that guy about, Sakura?" he asked me, giving me a hug.

"Oh, nothing important," I said, snuggling closer to him.

Meiling was there (oddly), and she and Touya were attempting to discuss the weirdness of rain this early in the year without making eye contact. I only smiled. This was probably Yukito's doing.

"Hey Sakura, I'd like to show you something," he said suddenly, tugging on my arm lightly.

I followed Yukito to a secluded place in the hall and squealed delightedly as he pressed me against the wall. He leaned in and kissed me and…

And that was it. Just two lips on two lips.

_Shouldn't we be moving more or something? _I thought, remembering my kiss with Syaoran,_ Maybe using our tongues?_

To test my theory, I slid my tongue out and licked his lips, like I had seen in the movies, to try and initiate something. He pulled back, surprised, and laughed.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

My face probably went as red as a tomato. I'd never been so embarrassed in front of him. Maybe I knew less about kissing than I thought.

"Uh…n-nothing…" I replied meekly. Clearly Li gave strange, inhuman kisses, I decided. That would be like him.

He gave me a hug and we walked back to lunch. Despite the fact that I could blame Li for everything, I was still so confused. I hadn't felt anything with that kiss. No fireworks at all.

_But when Li kissed me it was like fire…_I couldn't help thinking.

I shook my head. Maybe things would get better. I excused myself and went over to where Tomoyo was sitting in our group of girls, desperately needing to consult with someone.

"Hey Tomoyo, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, suddenly feeling nervous.

"Sure, Sakura. What's up?" She got up and walked a little ways away from the table with me.

"What's it like when Li kisses you?" I asked, staring at the floor.

"Oh he's a _great_ kisser! He knows how to use his tongue and—" she gushed, but I interrupted her:

"Ok ok, I just wanted to know if he used his tongue." I sighed.

Tomoyo laughed. I suddenly heard myself and realized how ridiculous I'd sounded.

"Why? Doesn't Yukito?" She looked incredulous.

"No…" I blushed.

"Maybe he feels awkward, since you're his friend's sister. Do you still like him, Sakura?" she asked seriously.

"What? Yea! Of course I do!" I protested. _Right?_

"I don't know… I think for you the getting is always more important than the having, at least when it comes to Yukito," she said. I felt a little irritated.

Suddenly she was acting so wise about love, when I still knew next to nothing.

"Really deep, Tomoyo," I countered, "But I like him a lot."

Tomoyo raised her eyebrows as if to say '_suuuure'_, but I just ignored her. It was time for class, anyway.

* * *

"Hey guys, since it's raining, we've been given permission to play Ultimate Frisbee in the gym!" Li exclaimed as class ended for the day.

The majority of the class cheered, but I wasn't so keen on the idea. Last year Tomoyo and I had played a game of Ultimate, but it wasn't that great of an experience. The boys always got so violent and tried to tackle people to the ground.

"Come on, Sakura, let's go!" Tomoyo pleaded. I could tell she just wanted to be with Li and it made me want to throttle him.

I was put on the opposite team as Li. Great. Wonderful. The Frisbee was tossed and the game already turned violent as several people tried to trip Li as he took his two steps (you're only allowed two steps before you have to throw the Frisbee) only to be tackled by members of Li's team.

He threw it high, and I jumped and intercepted it. I'm pretty athletic, you know. I laughed at the angry look on his face but it quickly dissolved into a whimper of fear as Li came running at me. In slow motion, I felt his arms wrap around my waist (poor tackling technique; you should really go for the knees) as his head and shoulders collided with my chest and stomach. In some way I don't know, he cushioned my fall so that I felt barely any pain.

He was gazing into my eyes from on top of me.

My heart stopped. All I could see were his eyes. All I could feel was the heat of his body…of a _certain_ _part_ of his body pressing against her thigh. I shuddered, realizing what it was.

Slowly his face crept closer to mine, though I could have been imagining it, but then…

"That's got to be the biggest foul in the history of Ultimate, Li," someone said. I looked up.

"Yea dude, she's just a girl," another guy interjected. Everyone was gathered around us in a little circle.

Li quickly got off me, and I had dropped the Frisbee when I fell. Tomoyo pushed through and helped me to my feet.

"Aw Syao, _try_ and be nice to Sakura, ok?" she called sweetly.

I suddenly felt relieved that Tomoyo wasn't angry and that she was on my side. Li's face was bright red, whether from exertion or embarrassment I couldn't tell. For the rest of the game Li stayed as far away from me as possible.

By the way, Tomoyo never brought me along to play Ultimate Frisbee again.

DM: Well now, Sakura's cooked up an evil little plan to save Tomoyo from Syaoran! Review please, and tell me what you think! I also hope you got that Sakura is narrating this story to someone in particular…more hints next time.


	4. The Best Worst Day of My Life

DM: I know, I know, it's been ages. I'm sorry. Anyway, I see a lot of story alerts, which makes me very happy! Thanks guys!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize are either people I know or characters of my own creation.

**How Should I Know?**

**Chapter Four**

**The Best Worst Day of My Life**

"Remember class, the Dance is in just a couple weeks!" the class president said excitedly. The class cheered, including Li. When they had calmed down, she continued: "And for those of you that are interested, Mr. Terada will be taking a group to the Tokyo Homeless Shelter Friday afternoon! You should get your community service requirement finished before summer break!"

I smiled to myself as I thought of Mr. Terada. He had been my teacher in elementary school. I wondered briefly why he'd decided to teach at university.

"I'll go for sure," I said softly.

"Hmm? What's that, my darling?" that obnoxious voice I loathed asked me.

Desperately, I looked around for Tomoyo. She was chatting with our friend Rika, a beautiful girl with short dark hair. Resigned to conversing with him, I turned around.

"I'm going on the community service outing, Li," I said curtly. The idea of him doing community service was laughable.

"Oh? What do you do at the homeless shelter?" His genuine curiosity startled me, and for a moment I paused before answering.

"You cook for and feed the homeless people dinner," I said trying to sound as-a-matter-of-fact.

Li turned to Tomoyo and called her over. She dropped Rika right away and came rushing. Rika smiled knowingly at me over her shoulder and left the room.

"Will you be going, _Sweetie_?" he asked. They exchanged a few whispered comments.

I tried not to growl aloud as he placed a hand on the small of her back. That asshole. His hand traveled a touch lower and I felt like slapping him. But I held myself back—he still didn't know of the Ultimate Plan.

"I can't, Syao, I have choir practice Fridays," she said aloud. She looked back for Rika and pouted when she realized she wasn't there.

Li looked slightly put out…and kind of cute. Not that I really found him cute…ever. I left the classroom before he could talk to me and caught up with Hiiragizawa who was already at his locker.

"Hey, Partner," I said, getting into our role as secret agents of break-up doom.

"Oh hey," he said casually. Clearly he wasn't as excited about this as I was.

"How's the plan going?" I asked, choosing to ignore his nonchalance.

Hiiragizawa gave me the thumbs up and whispered excitedly, "She passed me a pencil today!" I had never seen him look so happy.

I sighed. That was a little less progress than I had hoped for after a week. Ah, yes, sorry, I skipped ahead a week. Let me continue. We bid each other goodbye and I put on her rollerblades. I know I'm too old for them, but they're so much faster than walking!

I was barely out of the school gates when Touya caught up to me, folding up his cell phone and putting it in his pocket. His face was strangely flushed, but not in a bad way.

"Dad says he won't be back from the trip until Saturday. Anyway, we have a guest coming…"

He said the last bit so softly I thought I had imagined it. Normally, I'd be really excited (it was probably Yukito) but at the moment I had more important things on my mind.

"Can I borrow your car this Friday?" I asked quickly, hoping to take advantage of his good mood.

"For what?" The flush disappeared and he looked at me suspiciously.

"For the community service trip to Tokyo," I said honestly. He looked a little relieved.

Just then, his cell phone beeped to signal a received text message. He dug in his pocket and almost dropped it, he was so frantic to open it. I almost laughed to see a twenty-two year old man so flustered.

"Yea sure, whatever," he said as his answer.

Why was he so distracted? _Whatever, works for me_, I thought, already looking forward to the trip.

When we got home, Touya went straight to the kitchen and began making dinner (although I think it was my turn that night). I flopped down on the couch and got started on my chemistry homework. After an hour or so, when I had already finished chemistry and math (thank god!), the doorbell rang.

"Hey Monster, can you get it? I'm a little busy."

I glanced in the kitchen. He was frying croquettes. _Why go to all this trouble?_ When I opened the door I had my answer.

"Hello, Kinomoto," she said politely. She was wearing casual clothes.

"Oh, Li—please call me Sakura," I said, happy that she wasn't here to beat me up over Li.

"Oh all right. Then you may call me Meiling," she replied. I had never imagined she could look so poised in jeans and a tank top.

I led her into the sitting room and we sat down on opposite ends of the couch. I busied myself with my history reading, but glanced up occasionally at Meiling, who was staring at the floor. Touya came in wearing Dad's red apron, and said,

"Hello, Meiling. Dinner will be ready in just a few."

Meiling only blushed and smiled. When did he start calling her by her first name? I may never know. I looked at her carefully, and moved my mouth as I was thinking (a bad habit!).

"You know who you look like?" I asked, a smile forming on my face.

Meiling jumped a little and then shook her head.

"You look like Usagi from Sailor Moon!"

Meiling threw her head back and laughed. I laughed too. Leave it to me to break the ice with a dorky anime reference.

"You remember that anime? You're right though, we both have those…what're they called in Japanese?"

"Odangos. Where are you and your cousin from, anyway?" I asked.

I didn't have to mention Syaoran, but I did anyway.

"Oh we're from Hong Kong. We transferred here because Li's mother thinks he needs the quiet life."

I pictured him in traditional Japanese garb, performing tea ceremony.

We laughed again. Touya came in again, apron discarded, and said, "Dinner's ready!"

As we sat down, I decided to tease my stupid brother a little bit and say, "Hey Touya, Meiling looks like the girl from your favorite anime!"

He looked confused.

Meiling started cracking up. "Sailor M-moon" she choked out.

Touya glared at me. "Don't listen to the Monster, Meiling, she's very evil and none too bright—OW!"

I had stomped on his foot—my special attack. I suppose I should apologize for that too, huh? Anyway, Meiling laughed even harder. The evening went by like that, and I was happy that Meiling and my brother were getting along well.

* * *

Friday came and went, and I happily began driving Touya's car towards Tokyo.

What? You're wondering why I told you about that thing with Meiling? Ah, well you see, we're getting closer to the thing that I really have to apologize for, and I'm just a little nervous.

Anyway…

It was only a half-hour drive. I stopped at a red light and lazily glanced out the window. Li was waving at me frantically. He rushed up to the car and got in. I was so shocked I didn't even think to lock the door.

"Can I get a ride with you to the shelter?" he asked, buckling his seatbelt.

I sighed, knowing that now that he was in the car I wouldn't be able to stop him.

"Whatever…" I mumbled. Li busied himself with the radio.

"IF YOU LIKE MY BODY, AND YOU THINK I'M SEXY—" he sang along, turning the song way up. I blushed.

I quickly changed the channel. Damn Li's singing was terrible! It landed on the oldies station, and Li jumped up and down in his seat.

"I love this song!" he exclaimed. He seemed like a kid as he started singing, "Aruba, Jamaica ooh I wanna take ya"

"Bermuda, Bahama, come on pretty mama" I sang along as well.

"Key Largo, Montego, baby why don't we go—Jamaica"

"OFF THE FLORIDA KEYS, there's a place called Kokomo" we sang together now.

"That's where you wanna go to get away from it all!"

"Bodies in the sand, tropical drink melting in your hand…"

We sang the rest of the song together (I'd never met someone who also knew all the words) and then lapsed into a comfortable silence. Suddenly, Li turned off the radio and asked me,

"Why do you dislike me?"

I paused to think. The traffic was stop and go as we neared Tokyo. Li was pushing his seatback down so as to take a nap.

"You just annoy me, that's all," I said softly. I think it was pretty obvious why I disliked him.

"Are you happy with Tsukishiro?"

He appeared nonchalant, but I heard the anticipation in his voice.

"Well, he doesn't really kiss me…" _Idiot! Why are you telling him this!_ I thought at the time. Although now that I think of it, I really don't regret it.

"You know I'd kiss you," he said quietly. I strained my ears for a hint of humor in his voice but found none.

"Li, try to focus on your own girlfriend. Anyway, I think you're too childish for that kind of thing."

"You don't see me as a man? Is it because I play pranks? Sakura, you and I both know…" his voice was so serious.

I began to panic. My heart was racing.

"Don't call me Sakura!" I exclaimed quickly.

"Why not?" he asked, smiling. He was happy for the advantage.

"Because I think I li—"

WHAM!

The next thing I remember was the airbag.

Something huge and white blew up in my face. I felt a searing pain across my wrists and forearms. Smoke filled the car. Li was sitting up straight now, with a huge white balloon in front of his knees.

_What are those called again?_ I wondered. I was in shock.

"Sakura, are you alright?" he asked, his voice taking on a note of panic.

"I…" I showed him my wrists. They were bleeding freely. I looked ahead and saw the car in front of us pull to the side with the car in front of it. Realization dawned on me.

"Oh my God, oh my _God_." My heart began to do double time again.

Syaoran was stroking my shoulder. He pulled out his cell phone from his pocket.

"Hey, it's ok, Sakura, it's ok, I'm just gonna call the fire department."

"No it's not, Syaoran! This is my brother's car!" I was sobbing and breathing quickly.

Why did he look so happy?

"Shh, it's ok."

An operator picked up on the line and he told her our location and what happened.

"We've rear-ended someone," he said firmly.

We_ didn't do anything, you dolt, it was _me, I remember thinking.

I had never felt more stupid in my life. I reached back for my purse and pulled out my wallet. I found my insurance card and my driver's license. Now Touya would never let me drive again. It's true. I haven't driven since.

"How am I going to get the registration out?" I wailed. Syaoran's airbag was covering the glove compartment.

"Don't worry about that now—look, the fire department is here." Syaoran spoke with the firefighter and helped me out of the car, telling me a thousand times that everything would be alright.

"Here, give me your insurance card, and I'll get the other guys' info."

I watched him walk away, tears streaming down my cheeks, and a paramedic materialized in front of me.

"Are you alright?" he asked, examining my wrists.

"Stunned," was all I could manage. A police officer showed up.

"Ok sweetie, now tell me what happened."

I looked longingly at Syaoran, who was coming back with a couple slips of paper.

"I rear-ended that green car."

"And the green car tapped the white car," Syaoran finished for me.

The cop began to question Syaoran, who was a lot calmer than I was, much to my embarrassment. The paramedic was saying something. He was saying that we should go to the hospital. I nodded dumbly and got into the ambulance with him.

After what felt like a few hours but must have been 15 minutes, Syaoran got in the passenger's seat of the ambulance. He accidentally stepped on the siren, only to be shushed by the paramedic. I heard him as I answered the paramedic's questions calling her brother, Yukito, and the insurance company.

_This is the worst day of my life, _I decided. Of all people, Syaoran had to see me this way.

When we got to the hospital, I had to explain everything that happened about a hundred (five) more times. I looked at my wrists. They had huge vertical cuts in them that burned, and my forearms had what looked like rug burns on them. I sighed.

"Now you're going to feel disoriented as the shock wears off and you realize it wasn't a dream," the doctor was saying. He started to take a blood pressure reading.

"My fingers are tingling," I muttered feebly. He stopped.

"That's because you're hyperventilating. Now calm down, your boyfriend is taking care of everything. He's filling out your paperwork."

I wanted to say that Syaoran was _not_ my boyfriend, but I suddenly felt nauseous and told the doctor so.

"That's also normal after you've had a big shock."

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. God, I was so stupid! Syaoran walked into the room and I felt my face go even redder.

"My driver is going to pick us up now."

The doctor nodded and began putting iodine on my cuts.

Suddenly, I was in the back of a black car with Syaoran sitting next to her, watching her carefully.

"You're lucky," he said, "It didn't get your face."

I couldn't say anything. I just stared back at him. We pulled up to my house and Syaoran walked me to the door.

"I left Touya and Tsukishiro a message, but they're on the dance committee so…" I nodded silently.

He walked in with me, waved the driver (whose name was Wei) off and twe sat down on my couch.

Did he plan to stay with me?

"You have a driver?" I finally found my voice. I was suddenly angry.

"Yea I…" he began, his face turning pink.

"Then why did you make me drive you?" I asked, sitting up straight so that I looked down on him.

"I…" Syaoran mumbled, looking at the floor, "I wanted to be with you, that's all."

I was dumbfounded. I had prepared a whole arsenal of insults, but they seemed to vanish from my memory. Syaoran pressed his advantage.

"You called me Syaoran! Can I call you Sakura?" He looked excited.

I wondered when I started thinking of him as Syaoran. I smirked at him.

"Sure, but only because the accident rattled my brains," I said. His smiled grew wider, and suddenly I got a very cruel impulse.

"Fuck you," I said softly.

"Please do," he replied, looking me in the eye. I turned away.

Syaoran laughed. His hand knocked against my wrist and I winced.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" he said, the smile disappearing from his face.

He held my wrist so lightly I could hardly believe he was touching it at all. He stared into my eyes for a moment and then kissed the bandage.

I only watched him, feeling no anger at all. Strange…

Syaoran got bolder and kissed my forearm lightly. Then he kissed her upper arm. When he got to my shoulder his tongue shot out and he licked me through his kiss. He nuzzled my collarbone and neck, kissed my jaw and—finally we were face to face. He was so close that I could feel his breath tickling my nose. My body felt like it was on fire

As he closed in, there was the sound of a car pulling up in our driveway. We locked eyes.

"Go!" I moaned, "They can't see you here, I'll show you out the back." I don't know why. We looked completely normal.

We ran for the back door and I practically pushed him out of it. He hung back, his eyes burning into mine,

"Do you really like Yukito?"

Before I could stop myself, I said, "No…"

Oh Lord, what a bad person I am! If only you could help me!

He smiled and winked, and then took off, hopping the fence. Just in time too, as Touya and Yukito burst into the house along with Tomoyo.

"Sakura, are you alright?"

I sighed, and let Yukito embrace me and kiss my face. I suddenly felt horribly guilty. I shook my head to clear my mind as we sat down, and I told the story for the two hundredth (twelfth) time that day.

* * *

DM: Please review, it makes me happy!


	5. Dream

DM: It's been quite a while. Anyway, I'm in France right now studying abroad. It took a while to get my stuff together, but here I am! People have commented on how Syaoran is out of canon, but I will explain why next chapter! Ohoho!

Disclaimer: I don't own CCS, or anything else that I might reference (such as books, movies, clothing brands, etc.). Character names that you do not recognize are either people I know or characters of my own creation.

**How Should I Know?**

**Chapter Five**

**Dream**

"SAKURA!"

"Huh? What?" I quickly snapped out of my reverie and looked at my best friend.

"I wanted to know what you were gonna be for the costume party, so I can make your costume!" Tomoyo exclaimed, waving her arms about in a childish manner. And to think I envy her grace and poise. That's a sin, right?

"Oh…" I looked down at my hands. The cuts from the accident a few days earlier looked as bad as ever. I would have to hide them, I thought to myself.

Glancing out the window as I stalled for time (Tomoyo began tapping her foot impatiently) I saw a girl dressed up in a goth costume. Despite the warm weather (it was almost summer now) the sleeves were long, and finished with ruffled cuffs. The whole outfit was a ruffly mess of ribbons and lace, a black and purple monstrosity.

Tomoyo would love the idea.

"I know—I'll be a loligoth!" I said, feigning an excited tone of voice.

Tomoyo, who had apparently been examining my wrists, laughed a little and her eyes began to sparkle. Fabulous.

"That'd be great! I can make you the prettiest, cutest, bounciest, most adorable goth costume ever!"

I smiled, moved by Tomoyo's cute personality, and was about ask her what she would be when Syaoran waltzed into the classroom, a rose held between his teeth. Tomoyo took it from him and giggled.

"Mi cariña!" he said seductively. Tomoyo blushed. I'll admit, my cheeks grew a little warmer.

More than that, though, I wanted to throw up, but I wasn't sure why. When Syaoran's eyes met mine, I quickly turned away, not wanting him to see my weakness.

"As you can see, mi cariña verdadera, we are going to be Flamenco dancers!" he said, smiling at me.

I should really learn Spanish. Also, I had no idea what a Flamenco dancer looked like. Tomoyo looked positively giddy, though so I gave her a weak smile.

"How're your arms?" Syaoran asked me. I hid them from view under the desk. Curse the revealing nature of these summer uniforms!

I mumbled some kind of barely coherent reply. Each spot that he had kissed felt suddenly like it was on fire.

Sexual desire was not something I had felt before, and it is only now that I recognize my feelings back then as the beginning of a constant ache. I—

* * *

Sakura heard the man on the other side of the wooden panel clear his throat as though he was uncomfortable.

"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked timidly.

"No, please continue, my child."

Sakura fidgeted a little before continuing.

* * *

So anyway, Syaoran is hot. I think that's pretty clear. And Tomoyo is beautiful. I contented myself with the knowledge that they looked very good together and said nothing more, despite Syaoran's expectant gaze.

Mr. Terada then rescued me, coming into the classroom looking harried. Minutes later Rika crept in and sat at her desk, looking everywhere but at the teacher. Tomoyo sat down, still smiling. I thanked the heavens that Syaoran couldn't see my face, but suddenly I felt his hand on my shoulder and his mouth near my ear.

"I've been thinking about you, my Sakura," he whispered.

Against my will, I shivered. Syaoran, satisfied, sat back in his seat. Tomoyo was busy with her history notes and didn't notice a thing. I quickly revoked my thanks from the heavens and got out my notebook, prepared to listen to the dull lecture on the Russo-Japanese war.

* * *

It was Monday, and as I walked into the cafeteria to buy lunch I cursed the beautiful early summer that had happened on Tomoeda. It was the first day of school since the accident, and no one had noticed my hideous arms just yet. I pinned them to my sides and resolutely got in line.

Tomoyo began telling me about a dream she'd had the night before. I had had an interesting dream myself, actually. I was driving down a highway of clouds, when suddenly an angelic Syaoran appeared before me. He leaned in close to kiss me, but just inches away he turned into an airbag that blew up in my face. I woke in a cold sweat.

I could not share this dream with anyone. Except you, of course, sir.

The scariest part was that, in the dream at least (who am I kidding?), I wanted it to happen – I wanted to kiss Syaoran! I looked at Tomoyo as she scrutinized the fruit salad and shook my head to clear it of the idea.

_Gah. And I used to be such a good person._

I chose my lunch haphazardly, eager to sit down, finish eating it, and leave before Syaoran came for lunch (he was in trouble again). Tomoyo was trying to decide between pudding and cinnamon cake.

In my haste I collided with someone. I managed to save the contents of my tray (I had forgotten a drink, wouldn't you know?) but at the expense of exposing my right wrist.

"Oh Sakura, I'm so sorry, I don't know where my mind is today!" It was Rika. She was absolutely radiant.

Before I could do anything, Rika glanced at my tray to verify that she hadn't ruined my lunch. I tried to walk away but it was too late.

"Oh my God, Sakura!" she exclaimed. The cafeteria fell silent. I winced as a crowd gathered. Someone took my tray and put in on a table as some people pressed me, turning my wrists upward against my will.

"What happened?" asked someone I didn't recognize.

"Did you try to kill yourself?" Stranger number two asked, pseudo joking.

"I didn't think she looked like a cutter…" whispered someone I couldn't see.

It felt like everyone in the cafeteria (10 people) had come to look. Perfect. Exactly what I needed. Syaoran materialized by my side as I mumbled,

"I got in a car accident." I spoke softly, but I know they heard me because some people lost interest and the crowd lessened.

"Yea, we hit a bear!" Syaoran suddenly said. They came back and the crowd grew larger than it had been before.

I shot him a look that said "What are you doing?" I didn't have time for this.

He winked at me (my heart may or may not have skipped a beat) and I decided to give in.

"A polar bear!" I clarified.

"On the way to Tokyo!" Syaoran continued.

"It escaped from the zoo!" I explained.

"And it broke through the windshield!" Syaoran made a sweeping gesture with his arm to illustrate.

"Then Syaoran had to shoot it!" I was having fun. Maybe.

"Using the gun that Touya keeps in the glove compartment to shoot guys that get close to Sakura!" Syaoran said, nodding despite the disbelieving faces in the crowd.

Everyone was laughing (Syaoran has an interesting way with people), when Touya broke through the crowd and confronted the grinning Syaoran, whose smile evaporated immediately.

"Monster rear-ended someone in my car," he said haughtily, and the group around us dispersed, laughing.

"Touya, I am _not_ a monster!" I shrieked as I stomped on his foot. Touya hopped in pain back to his table, where Meiling and Yuki were laughing hysterically. Touya glared at them and walked away. Meiling looked rather hurt.

"So, _Monster_, how are you feeling after Friday?" Syaoran asked. This was the second time he had asked me this.

My eyes narrowed as I walked back to my table (he followed) where Tomoyo was waiting. She had been the one to relieve me of my tray. I split apart my chopsticks with a little more force than necessary.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking away.

"You know what I mean," he said. Tomoyo was ruffling his hair, immersed in a book she had just checked out from the library (_Goth Fashion in the 1990's)_.

"Oi! Sakura!" Yukito's voice rang out above the chatter in the cafeteria.

I snapped to attention and hurried over to Yukito, giving Syaoran a wave over my shoulder. Yukito sat me in his lap (strangely awkward), and when I looked back towards my table (why?), I only saw Syaoran in deep conversation with a girl with long reddish-brown hair. I fumed.

_How many more of us are you stringing along, Li? _I thought.

I decided to prove to him that he didn't mean anything to me. I turned to Yuki and planted a big kiss on his lips, taking him and Syaoran by surprise. To be honest, public displays of affection make me uncomfortable, so I was a little freaked out by my own courage.

I looked back at him to see him scowling at my. He turned immediately back to his conversation with the brunette. I felt an odd pang in my chest (again, why?) but decided to ignore it and talk to Yuki and Meiling instead.

* * *

Let's skip ahead to the horrendous experience that is costume fitting.

"Why does _he_ have to be here?" I asked in a whiny voice.

"Well, when I told him I needed to do a fitting for your costume, he volunteered to come and help." Tomoyo replied calmly. She had her measuring tape looped over one shoulder, and looked wonderful as usual as she prepared to measure me.

"What's the matter, Monster, are you embarrassed about your sizes?" (How I hate that he picked up that name from Touya!)

"NO!" I shouted, pouting. _Actually, just one_, I thought. At least Syaoran couldn't penetrate the sanctity of my mind.

Tomoyo sighed and got to measuring my bust. I was wearing a tank top and shorts (very casual). I felt myself turn a deep shade of red, feeling Syaoran's eyes on my body.

"36, just like last time," Tomoyo said. Did I hear a note of satisfaction in her voice?

I sighed as Tomoyo moved on to my waist

"Oh come on, Sakura, it's not so bad…You could always get implants!"

Tomoyo was thrown to the floor as I launched myself at Syaoran, punching every bit of him that I could reach.

"Uncle, uncle!" he shouted.

"What?" I was so confused that I sat back on his lap. He sat up and smirked. Our faces were incredibly close, and I felt her heart racing. That feeling of desire returned.

"You say 'uncle' when you give up. Don't you watch pro wrestling?"

I wasn't really listening, and I could tell that Syaoran wasn't really thinking about what he was saying either. We stared into each other's eyes until I felt a certain _something_ hardening beneath her (clearly he had the same desire I did). I quickly stood up, and Syaoran got up slowly, still looking at me with an intensity that made me shake. Tomoyo was busy getting fabric out of her case and hadn't noticed the atmosphere. Or so I thought, at least.

_That was close._

We kept our big mouths shut and let Tomoyo continue the fitting.

* * *

Then it was Friday, the night of the costume party organized by the student council, and I was getting into the big black ruffly mess that was my costume. The sleeves, however, were three-quarter length ("I thought that your wrists would suit the costume!").

The doorbell rang and I ran down, holding up my skirt (it had _hoops_ for goodness' sake!), to answer the door. Touya was at Yuki's house. Yuki had agreed to wear a matching goth costume, even though he knows as well as I do that pink is really my color, and Touya had left wearing a tuxedo (what a weirdo).

"Oh, you look so cute, Sakura!" It was Tomoyo at the door, coming over to prepare my makeup.

Tomoyo, of course, was nothing short of stunning in her long black dress that had a fishtail that touched the floor. It hugged her womanly body in a very lovely way. Just so you know, I looked like a child's doll next to her. She opened up her makeup case and pulled out black eyeliner.

"Now, goths always have these really heavy eyes..." Her touch was very gentle as she outlined my green eyes in black.

I sat still and let her work. Suddenly, I asked,

"Tomoyo, where's Syaoran?"

Tomoyo's hand slipped and left a huge black line, extending my eyebrow into my hair. Not a bad look, I suppose. Tomoyo mumbled an apology and got out the makeup remover. Curious, I persisted.

"Did something happen?" I asked. A cold feeling that I can only call fear started creeping up my back.

"What? No… Why would something happen?" She said distractedly, rubbing my temple with a cotton ball.

"You're being weird. Don't be stupid." I was terrified. I'm always mean when I'm terrified.

Tomoyo heaved a sigh as she wiped the rest of the stray eyeliner away.

"Well, he got a little peeved with me today because he saw me with Eriol…" her voice trailed off.

"Eriol? Who's Eriol?" I asked, feigning ignorance. Was my Ultimate Plan working?

"Oh, he's this really nice guy, that's all…" Tomoyo blushed. I never knew she was the type to like foreigners (Eriol is half British, by the way).

I should have been elated that the Ultimate Plan was so successful, but I hadn't expected Syaoran to be jealous. Suddenly I wondered whether or not I was doing the right thing.

My mind raced as I pondered:

_If Tomoyo is happy, then it is the right thing._

_But what about Syaoran?_

_What _about _Syaoran?_

_What does he mean to me?_

"Nothing," I said aloud.

"What was that, Sakura?" Tomoyo asked, barely concealing her irritation. She had been applying lip liner when I spoke.

"Oh, nothing's better than your costumes, Tomoyo!" I said, smiling. She rolled her eyes but looked pleased nonetheless.

With that, we got in Tomoyo's car and set off for the dance. It was getting dark already. I just stared out the window. Tomoyo's driver looked, as always, as though someone had died recently. Then it struck me…Syaoran had a driver. What the hell? When did he get so wealthy?

"We're here, Sakura!" Tomoyo said cheerfully.

I got out of the car carefully—the dress, pretty as it was, was very ungainly and I'm a klutz as it was.

"Mi cariña!" Syaoran's voice called.

Tomoyo and Syaoran started an impromptu dance and I turned away, trying not to look jealous. Not that I was jealous. Syaoran looked strangely attractive in his open dark shirt, his usually unruly hair flattened and a moustache drawn on in eyeliner.

"Hey!" I heard from behind me.

I looked through the crowd to see Yukito looking like an adorable goth boy. I gave him a big hug and a kiss and heard an "oof" behind me. Syaoran had dropped Tomoyo by accident. I smiled. _Why am I so evil? _I swear I'm not normally like this.

"You look great!" Yukito complimented.

"Thanks, so do you!" I returned. His arm felt oppressively heavy as it rested on my shoulder.

"Touya!" I exclaimed, catching sight of my brother, "You look slightly less hideous than usual—must be the mask!" I smiled widely as he made an angry face.

"Sakura, you look positively creepy!" Meiling said from behind him.

Meiling was there too, wearing a lovely dress and a mask. I still don't really know what their costumes were.

"C'mon, c'mon, let's go in, people!" Meiling called impatiently, and together we walked into the dimly lit gymnasium. Dance music was blaring from the speakers, and I scurried out onto the floor, dragging Yukito with me.

It may not seem that way since you've encountered me at such a strange time in my life, but I am very outgoing and love to dance!

Syaoran scurried after, and he and Tomoyo began dancing right next to us. I caught his eye and realized what was happening.

_Oh it's on, Syaoran! _I thought, prepared to outdo him in every way.

Of course, I had no idea as to what would happen that night, and the horrendous (wonderful) mistake that I would make.

DM: Whew, another long chapter! I hope you guys liked that! I wonder how they'll act around each other at school! Please review, so I know that my long hiatus hasn't lost everyone's interest! And stay tuned because next chapter you'll learn why Syaoran is mischievous and outgoing instead of cold!

Also I have a poll on my profile asking about age! I am curious to know how old my readers are. Thank you for your support!


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